"We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." - President Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address

Destroyer Fun

Saturday, July 26, 2008

3. GULF OF ADEN: Bulk carrier (STELLA MARIS) hijacked 20 Jul 08 at 0430 localtime/0011 UTC while underway in position 13:16N-050:02E, approximately 87NM northwest ofCaluula, Somalia. The vessel was enroute Suez when UKMTO Dubai was alerted viaINMARSAT that pirates were onboard, repeated three times before the line went dead. Noreturned calls were answered. The ships operators were alerted and at the same time a SSASmessage was received by the operators and forwarded to UKMTO. According to Puntlandpresidential advisor Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, there were 38 heavily armed pirates thatstormed the ship while sailing in international waters. Hared Ise Umar, the DistrictCommissioner of Caluula, stated that the hijackers sailed the vessel close to Caluula andindicated he expected the vessel to sail to Eyl (Operator, UKMTO, IMB, AFP, LM:hornafrik.com).. 4. GULF OF ADEN: Container ship reported aggressive skiffs 18 Jul 08 at 0720 UTC whilesteaming in position 12:47.5N-051:02E, approximately 48NM north of Caluula, Somalia. Two,six meter yellow fiberglass crafts with 5-6 heavily armed men chased the vessel. The vessel wastraveling at 25knts when it was overtaken by pirates on the port side. The master estimated thespeed of the pirates at approximately 30knts. The vessel took evasive maneuvers, raised thealarm, and the crew prepared fire hoses. Suspected pirates moved away. No weapons werereleased and the vessel continued its voyage to Singapore (Operator, UKMTO, IMB).

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EagleSpeak

About EagleSpeak

The main focus of this blog is maritime security. Other matters may appear. I am a retired attorney and a retired Navy Reserve Captain (Surface Warfare). Opinions expressed herein are my own. Sometimes I have the experience to back them up. Your opinions may vary. Don't panic. Feel free to disagree, that's what free speech is all about.
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Under the header: ,USS Farragut (DDG 99), USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) and USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Anthony Flynn/Released)